Hanukkah

I am going to tell you about Hanukkah or you can also spell it as Chanukkah.

Hanukkah was a minor holiday but then it eventually gained population.
It is celebrated for eight days this year it will start on December 2 all the way to the 9th. As you lite the candles there is a ancient song you sing with it it is called Hanerot Hallalu. Hanukkah reminds the jewish people of strife and conflict that their ancestors had faced in the passed. It takes 44 candles all together to last the 8 days and noght.
When they cook their food either fried or baked they put olive oil in it in all their foods. They put the olive oil in all the food because it reminds them of the oil that burned for 8 days in the holy temple. They even put it in theit dairy foods. They also play games and one of the popular one is spin the dreidel this game is the most played game. They exchange gifts for the gelt because it falls by christmas but traditionly your not really suppose to recieve gifts.
Well thats it for this one.

Iranian Plateau

The Iranian Plateau is huge! It's like 2,00 kilometers big. The reason there is a plateau there is because that's where 4 tectonic plates meet and push together. I asked Alexis what she knew about the Iranian plateau and she said " Well I know that the highest point is the Damavand peak at 18,406 feet.", I thought about that then she said " The Plateau is divided into 5 sub divisions." then in reply I said " Oh, Yeah the Koh-i-baba also goes through part of it." Then we finished our hike and went back to the hotel.

Taurus Mountains

The Taurus is a Mountain range in southern Turkey I actually think this is a cool place because it reminds me of the Himalayas. The highest peak there is Mt. Demerkazik. It is, 12,320 ft. tall. something I didn't really know until Alexis told me was that there was a German, Turkish Railway in World War 1. We stayed in a resort 16 miles above any town. On one of the hikes we found out that limestone has eroded the insides of some of the mountains. Because of the erosion there is a bunch of underground caves, and waterfalls. My favorite thing about this place is that they found evidence of tin mining inside the caves. I would love to go back here.

Map URL.

This is the URL that Alexis, and I madehhttp://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=tigris%20and%20euphrates%20rivers&aql=&oq=Tigris&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

The Syrain desert

We are back at another desert . This place is amazing it is like 200,000 square miles big. But I couldn't believe that it only gets bout 5 in. of rain a year! That's nothing! I also found out it borders the Orontes Valley. Alexis found out something interesting that it has more than 2,000 species of plants! But i saved the best for last it's unusual because it's not a sand desert it's a rock, and gravel desert i think this is an awesome unique place to go.

The Tigris, and Euphrates Rivers

Im not sure what to say about what we say and learned at the two rivers, but I now know that the Rivers are so old that they were a part of an old land empire called Mesopotamia. It's also in present day Iraq. Jackson told me that the Tigris river is 1150 miles long. Then I Told him that the Euphrates River is 1700 miles long. We Figured out that together it is about 2850 miles long all together. I liked going to this feature.

The Dead Sea

So since we lefted the Jordan Sea we are going to the Dead Sea it is connected to eachother. The Dead Sea is spectacular natural and spirital landscape in the whole world. As we are here we are going to get salt for our food that need to be salted. This sea is the lowest body of water on earth and the lowest point. We got out the boat and we started to swim there is so much salt that you can float. This the worlds richest source of salt. AS we are swimming we notice that there are no fish or plants living in this lake because of all the salt it is so strong. This salt is so bitter and its not like the salt that we eat on our food and stuff. We was talking to this old man he said when they was younger that they use to call the Dead Sea the Stinky Sea.Well now we are going to head to the Tigris and THe Euphrates river.

The Jordan River

So now we are going to the Jordan sea we are excited bout this one we dont now why we just are. So here we are at the Jordan river this sea leads into the Dead Sea. I Dont aven know much about it so Alexis, and I looked on the computer for facts. Alexis found that it is 156 mi. long. Then I found one that said " The Jordan River also leads into the sea of galilee" I like another one that said " One of the many tributaries is the Hasbani r." But Alexis and, I got bored on the computer so we went to the river and found two more tributaries they where the " Banias, and the iyon." All and All this was a good trip.

The Red Sea

So now we are heading over to the Red Sea By a boat of couse it is alot of fun so far our journey has been going good so far. So now we are hear in the Red Sea this is one of the most tropical sea.

This Sea is known for it strong winds and its tricky currnents. So we might need to watch out for the strong winds comming in because of the storm that is about to happen. We also have people out here right now for there diving sites this sea was decovered as a diving site. As we are going back up on shore there is a dead shark and it is a tiger shark.

The Sea of Marmara

I went to the Sea of Marmara with Alexis. On the way there, she told me all these facts like "The sea is 4,430 sq. mi." And there were two more. One was, " The sea is between the Bosporus stait and the Darnelles." I was wondering what the other was so I asked "What are the corrdinates?" she awnsered me as. " 44 N, 35 E," I thought that was also interesting. I just really wish that the sea of marmara was wider than " 11,350km

Persian Gulf

Okay we are moving on into the lakes and rivers now.We are on a boat in the Persian Gulf also reffered as the Arabian Gulf. This is mainly a shallow Gulf. This Gulf has mainly Islands. We are going to the largest Island named the Bahrain. This gulf is connected to the Gulf of Omen. So we might go there to. This Gulf has a lot of oil resource. But now we are heading over to the Red Sea.

Rub Al-Khali Desert.

This time instead of walking through the Desert's we go to we got a tour guide. As we where in that little car over the engine the guide said facts like " This place is very hot as high as (131) F."

He also said something like. " The dunes are also 330 m. tall, so we are lucky our car has a path to follow." Then i didn't here it but Alexis did he said " The desert is 1000 kl. long" "It's also 310 mi. wide." I then asked him " What animals live here?" " he said mostly spiders and rodents" then our tour was over.

Zagros mountain

Okay now we are heading to the Zagros mountain. We are excited to come we are ready to explore this mountain maybe this montain might be better. Okay we now at the mountain. This mountain was formed by a collision of two tectonic plates. As we are traveling up this mountain we run into a little forest it has a semi-arid temperture climate. This mountain has a high parallel range. SO we decided to go to the center of the mountain and we discovered a salt dome that is 5,ooo ft high. We also seen some animals we came past a wild sheep and some goats. Also in this mountain there are also other animals like wolves, bears, hyenas, and leapards. There is also eagles that nest in the higher elevation.

Negev Dessert.

Alexis , and I where walking in the Negev dessert on our Middle Eastern trip. So as we where walking i said to Alexis " hey, did you know that the Negev covers half of of Israel?" "Cool!" ,said Alexis. After walking a little more she said "oh, and the highest temperature recorded in July is about 91 degrees f.?" Then I said "..... FACT BATTLE!" " The Negev is (4,700) sq. ft. big." I was surprised at all the things I actually knew about the Negev. Then immediately Alexis came back with. " The lowest Temp. in the Negev is 45." " and then we both stopped and thought.... then in unison we said." The Negev is a big solar power unit!" that was our trip to the Negev.